Seaspan CEO Gerry Wang to Retire
Seaspan Corporation announced that Gerry Wang, its Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder, will retire from Seaspan effective December 31, 2017 to focus on family business investments and his ongoing charitable efforts.
In order to facilitate an orderly transition, Wang will continue in his current role as CEO until the earlier of when a permanent CEO is identified or December 31, 2017, and will continue to serve on Seaspan's Board until the end of the year. Seaspan has commenced a search process to identify a new Chief Executive Officer.
The Board of Directors has appointed David Sokol, a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Seaspan, as Chairman of the Board. Concurrent with this change, Kyle Washington and Gerry Wang have both been recognized as Chairman Emeritus.
Seaspan has promoted Peter Curtis to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Curtis joined Seaspan in 2001 as Vice President to establish and lead our ship management function and has served as the Chief Operating Officer of the company since 2012.
Dennis R. Washington, whose family is Seaspan's largest shareholder, commented, "It has been a pleasure partnering with Gerry since the Company's founding by Gerry nearly twenty years ago. Gerry, along with Seaspan's world class professionals, has built Seaspan into the world's leading containership leasing platform. I wish Gerry great success in all his future activities and good health, and appreciate him working with David Sokol and the management team for a smooth transition into Seaspan's next phase of growth."
Wang commented, "I am extremely proud of Seaspan's accomplishments and its unsurpassed industry position. It has been a fun and challenging journey for the past 20 years. I am choosing this timing because the Company's financial and operational position is strong and industry fundamentals have improved."
